Hel | |
|---|---|
 Neptune fountain and Saints Peter and Paul Church | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Hel | |
| Coordinates:54°36′42″N18°48′29″E / 54.61167°N 18.80806°E /54.61167; 18.80806 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Pomeranian |
| County | Puck |
| Gmina | Hel(urban gmina) |
| Established | 12th century |
| Town rights | 1351–1872, 1963 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mirosław Wądołowski[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 94.96 km2 (36.66 sq mi) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 10,600[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 84-150 |
| Area code | +48 58 |
| Car plates | GPU |
| Voivodeship roads |  |
| Website | https://gohel.pl/ |
Hel[a] (Kashubian:Hél;German:Hela) is aseaside resort city inPuck County,Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northernPoland, located on the tip of theHel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres (21 miles) from the Polishmainland.
The territory became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century, under its first historic rulerMieszko I. TheKashubian village of Hel was first mentioned in 1198 as a centre ofherring trade area namedGellen. In one of theDanish chronicles of 1219 it is mentioned that a damaged ship of KingValdemar II the Victorious was set ashore on an "Island of Hel". By the 13th century the village became one of the most important trade centres of the area, competing with the nearby city ofGdańsk[citation needed]. It was then that the village was grantedtown rights byDukeŚwiętopełk II the Great ofPomerania. The privileges were again confirmed in 1378 when the town came under the rule of theTeutonic Order.
Initially the town was some 1.5 km (1 mi) from its present-day centre. It contained a church, hospital, city house, two market places, several guest houses and a small port. However, during the 15th century the peninsula started to shrink through marine erosion and soon the town was moved to a safer place. In 1417 St Peter's Church was built in the town, devoted to thepatron saint of fishermen. Hel experienced a period of growth, but was later left behind by the faster-growing city of Danzig (Gdańsk). In 1440, the town joined the anti-TeutonicPrussian Confederation, upon the request of which the area was re-incorporated by KingCasimir IV Jagiellon into theKingdom of Poland in 1454.[3] The re-incorporation was confirmed in the1466 peace treaty, when the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the area.[4] In 1466 Casimir IV granted the town as a fief to the city of Gdańsk, which ended the century-long struggle for economic domination overGdańsk Bay. In 1526 KingSigismund I the Old withdrew all privileges previously granted to Hel and sold the town and the peninsula to the city authorities of Gdańsk. Since then Hel's fate was tied to the fortunes of its bigger neighbour.
In the 17th and 18th centuries prolonged warfare and a series of natural disasters severely damaged the town. It was severely depopulated, and in 1793 it was annexed byPrussia in theSecond Partition of Poland. In 1872 the government of the newly formedGerman Empire abolished the town rights granted to Hel six centuries previously[citation needed]. After that the village of Hela (as it is called inGerman) lost much of its significance.
The period of decline was halted in 1893 when a fishing harbour was built in the village. It provided a shelter for fishing vessels, but also became a popular destination for weekend trips of the inhabitants ofDanzig and Zoppot (Sopot). In 1896 the village was granted the status of a sea-side resort.[citation needed]
As a result ofWorld War I and theTreaty of Versailles Poland was re-established as an independent nation. Hel, before the war a predominantly German village (93% in 1905[5]), became again part of Poland. In 1921 a new railway was built along the peninsula connecting the town to the mainland. The authorities of thePomeranian Voivodeship also planned to build a road to the village, but the peninsula was found too narrow at the time. Soon Hel became one of the most importanttourism centres in Polish Pomerania. New suburbs of villas were built for tourists, as well as a new church, school, fishing institute and geophysical observatory. In addition, the village became one of the two main naval bases of thePolish Navy. The harbour was expanded and in 1936 thepresident declared the peninsula a"Fortified Area" under jurisdiction of thePolish Army. The naval base was expanded significantly and a battery of coastal artillery was built to provide cover for the military facilities.[citation needed]
During theinvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II in September 1939, theHel Peninsula was one of the longest-defended pockets ofPolish Army resistance. Approximately 3,000 soldiers of theCoastal Defence Group (Grupa Obrony Wybrzeża) units under KmdrWłodzimierz Steyerdefended the area until 2 October 1939. Shortly beforecapitulation, Polish military engineers detonated a number oftorpedo warheads, which separated the peninsula from the mainland transforming it into an island. Afterwards, Hel wasoccupied by Germany. Already in 1939, the occupiers carried out the firstexpulsion of Poles, who were then enslaved asforced labour of newGerman colonists in various places in the region.[6] During the occupation, theKriegsmarine used the Hel naval base to trainU-boat crews. At the end of the war the village was the last part of Polish soil to be liberated: the German units encircled there only surrendered on 14 May 1945, six days after Germany had capitulated.[citation needed]
After the war the village yet again became a naval base. In 1960 a road linking Hel withJastarnia on the mainland was built. Three years latertown rights were reintroduced. Since then the tourist industry started to recover and several hotels, guest houses and inns were built. In 1996 the Polish Navy sold all remaining parts of the peninsula to the civilian authorities and only a small naval base is there today.[citation needed]
The harbour now serves primarily as ayachtmarina, though there are some fishing boats and ferries toGdańsk,Sopot andGdynia in the summer.[citation needed]
Hel houses a sea life biological laboratory and there are interesting examples of naval armament and equipment exhibited throughout the town. There is popular beach along the shore between the inner and outer harbour walls, with aseal sanctuary (the Fokarium) just behind it. There is aFishing Museum [pl][7] that forms part of theNational Maritime Museum, Gdańsk[8] in an old church on the sea front.[citation needed]
The most easterly edge of Hel, which was once a military territory, can now be accessed by the general public making it possible to walk all the way around the peninsula.[citation needed]
Hel is the setting for the Polish crime seriesZbrodnia [pl] (2014–2015) "The Crime" in English.
The road leading to the town has been jokingly referred to by tourists and locals as the road as the "highway to Hel", with the local summer bus service happening to be numbered 666. However, due to criticism from religious groups over its associations with thenumber of the beast, the service was renumbered 669 in 2023.[9]
Hel has anoceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb). Its peninsular location generates a unique climate inPoland and more similar with the northwest ofEurope.[10]
| Climate data for Hel (Hel Lighthouse), elevation: 1 m, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1951–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 11.3 (52.3) | 12.9 (55.2) | 20.5 (68.9) | 26.2 (79.2) | 28.0 (82.4) | 31.7 (89.1) | 35.0 (95.0) | 31.8 (89.2) | 28.1 (82.6) | 23.2 (73.8) | 15.9 (60.6) | 11.7 (53.1) | 35.0 (95.0) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 7.1 (44.8) | 7.1 (44.8) | 12.1 (53.8) | 19.3 (66.7) | 23.7 (74.7) | 26.8 (80.2) | 28.0 (82.4) | 27.4 (81.3) | 22.9 (73.2) | 17.2 (63.0) | 11.5 (52.7) | 8.3 (46.9) | 29.2 (84.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.1 (35.8) | 2.6 (36.7) | 5.6 (42.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 16.0 (60.8) | 19.7 (67.5) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.1 (71.8) | 17.6 (63.7) | 12.0 (53.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 3.7 (38.7) | 11.8 (53.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.6 (33.1) | 0.7 (33.3) | 2.7 (36.9) | 6.7 (44.1) | 11.4 (52.5) | 15.4 (59.7) | 18.1 (64.6) | 18.2 (64.8) | 14.5 (58.1) | 9.7 (49.5) | 5.3 (41.5) | 2.2 (36.0) | 8.8 (47.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −1.1 (30.0) | −1.1 (30.0) | 0.2 (32.4) | 3.2 (37.8) | 7.6 (45.7) | 11.8 (53.2) | 14.8 (58.6) | 15.1 (59.2) | 11.9 (53.4) | 7.6 (45.7) | 3.7 (38.7) | 0.6 (33.1) | 6.2 (43.2) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −8.5 (16.7) | −7.5 (18.5) | −5.4 (22.3) | −2.2 (28.0) | 1.4 (34.5) | 6.2 (43.2) | 10.4 (50.7) | 10.5 (50.9) | 7.0 (44.6) | 2.0 (35.6) | −1.8 (28.8) | −5.8 (21.6) | −10.7 (12.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −19.1 (−2.4) | −20.0 (−4.0) | −17.0 (1.4) | −9.0 (15.8) | −5.1 (22.8) | −0.1 (31.8) | 5.4 (41.7) | 5.3 (41.5) | −2.3 (27.9) | −3.0 (26.6) | −9.2 (15.4) | −15.2 (4.6) | −20.0 (−4.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 38.5 (1.52) | 30.7 (1.21) | 32.9 (1.30) | 30.7 (1.21) | 48.9 (1.93) | 57.7 (2.27) | 77.9 (3.07) | 67.6 (2.66) | 60.6 (2.39) | 57.4 (2.26) | 49.2 (1.94) | 46.0 (1.81) | 598.1 (23.55) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 6.3 (2.5) | 7.0 (2.8) | 4.6 (1.8) | 0.8 (0.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.8 (0.3) | 4.3 (1.7) | 7.0 (2.8) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 18.30 | 15.47 | 14.23 | 11.17 | 11.87 | 13.87 | 14.43 | 14.20 | 13.93 | 15.83 | 17.20 | 18.57 | 179.07 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0 cm) | 11.3 | 13.1 | 6.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 6.3 | 39.4 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 86.9 | 85.7 | 82.8 | 80.6 | 80.4 | 80.5 | 81.8 | 81.8 | 83.1 | 84.9 | 88.1 | 88.1 | 83.7 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 41.5 | 68.5 | 135.2 | 216.2 | 273.1 | 277.7 | 276.1 | 258.9 | 175.1 | 113.7 | 48.0 | 35.2 | 1,919.3 |
| Source 1: Institute of Meteorology and Water Management[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Meteomodel.pl (records, relative humidity 1991–2020)[19][20][21] | |||||||||||||
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